OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Tualatin City Council Hosts Public Forum on Severe Rent Burden and Affordable Housing – December 16, 2025

City CouncilTuesday, December 16, 2025
BodyTualatin, Oregon
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, December 16, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:18:46

Transcript — Verbatim
0:06

Thank you all for spending time with us this evening.

0:09

Very much appreciate you uh coming today.

0:12

Very much appreciate our vendors who came out or service providers so we can connect with them.

0:17

Uh looking forward tonight to hearing what uh is possible here in Twalton and also hearing from the community on you know what the needs are if we're not aware of them right now, or things are coming down the pipe that we need to be aware of that you might know of that we don't.

0:33

Uh of course, uh the problem we're all facing right now is the lack of availability and affordable house affordability of housing in Twalton.

0:43

Uh all the city counselors or city staff were racking our brains as every other city is in the state on how to provide more affordable housing to the community in conjunction with what the governor is doing.

0:55

So I look forward tonight to hearing uh some new ideas or suggestions on how we all can do better and help each other out in reaching that goal of getting people off the street and get into safe affordable housing.

1:07

So with that, I'll go ahead and turn us over to Erin who will lead us through tonight's um meeting.

1:13

Thank you, Mayor.

1:15

Cody, are you able to transition the presentation materials?

1:20

Okay, thanks, Cody.

1:23

Once we get that cued up, I'll I'll begin the presentation.

1:29

But as the mayor expressed, I just wanted to thank all the service providers who generously provided their time to support our resource fair.

1:37

Um we appreciate you connecting our residents to the valuable housing information support and services.

1:45

And then also just want to recognize that if you celebrate Hanukkah, happy Hanukkah.

2:46

I might need help with the slides.

2:48

My clicker's not working.

2:50

Can we advance in the next one?

2:54

Thanks, Cody.

2:56

So for tonight's agenda, we'll discuss what severe rent burden is.

3:00

There's a house bill that came out from the state that set some guidelines around what severe rent burden is and how cities should address severe rent burden.

3:10

We'll also look at what's been happening locally in Twalaton and what progress Tualeton has made on housing work.

3:17

And then I also have some panelists joining me today.

3:20

So we'll be hearing about Plan Beck Gardens, some background and updates on what's happening there, and then we'll also hear about the supportive services that are offered there.

3:30

And we'll conclude with some questions for the panelists and some public testimony.

3:38

Next slide, please.

3:42

As I mentioned, I'm joined by some panelists today.

3:45

But to begin, my name is Aaron Engman.

3:47

I'm the senior planner here at the City of Tualeton.

3:50

And then I'm joined with by Melissa Stark, who comes from Community Partners for Affordable Housing, and her colleague, Julian Dominguez.

3:58

And we're also joined today by Derek Lopez from Community Action.

4:02

Thank you for being here tonight.

4:04

Thank you.

4:06

Next slide, please.

4:10

So the reason we're here tonight is the state of Oregon enacted a house bill in 2018 as a reaction to the state of housing emergency.

4:20

And like many parts of our country, Oregon is experiencing housing emergency.

4:28

So the state declared that if a city has at least 25% of renter households paying more than 50% of their income on gross rent, that's rent and utilities.

4:42

They are considered severely rent burden.

4:45

So as a city, we're here to discuss the causes and consequences of severe rent burden, the barriers to reducing rent burdens, and on uh more positive notes and possible solutions.

5:03

And to fulfill these state requirements, we have noticed housing providers, service providers, public housing authorities in both Washington County and Clackamas County, and many apartment residents in our city limits to join us here tonight.

5:19

Next slide, please.

5:23

So as I mentioned, this house bill began in 2018.

5:26

So we've been tracking data in the city of Twalton since that date.

6:12

Maybe another point too is that one thing I want to address is that Washington County has some of the most expensive rental rates in the state and a fairly low vacancy rate.

6:24

So just some context too for our local region.

6:29

Next slide, please.

6:33

So you may recall that recently Tweleton did engage in a housing needs analysis, and what we found in this report is that household incomes have not kept pace with the rising house prices, and I think a lot of our community members are feeling that crunch.

6:55

Lastly, there's a deficit of high density land designation, which kind of enables the creation of multifamily housing and some of the more dense housing types that have a lower entry.

7:18

Next slide, please.

7:34

Some low numbers with our single family attached.

7:38

We're doing I would say moderately well with our multifamily production at 41%.

7:46

But that being noted, we do have a vacancy rate of 4.3%, which is fairly competitive.

7:54

And what we found is that Twelleton's challenge over the next 20 years will be providing opportunities for the development of relatively affordable housing.

8:02

And that is generally deemed through the development of townhouses, duplexes, market rate, multifamily housing, and government subsidized affordable housing.

8:15

Next slide, please.

8:21

So our housing needs analysis forecasted that we'll have a demand for over a thousand new dwelling units to accommodate our population growth up to 2040.

8:32

But uh the state has also changed some rules around housing capacity analysis.

8:36

So that figure I think has increased, and we'll be digging into that deeper in the coming years.

8:43

But some of the recommended housing mix that was included in our previous housing needs analysis is the need for more single-family attached units and some more multifamily attached or sorry, multifamily units.

9:01

Part of this is due to changing demographics with the aging baby boomers and the household from formation of millennials, we found that that will drive the demand for smaller format housing in walkable neighborhoods with access to services.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████46%
Public Transportation█████████████████17%
Disability Rights████████████12%
Community Engagement██████████10%
Utility Management██████6%
Homelessness███3%
Eviction Prevention███3%
Procedural██2%
Urban Planning1%
Summary of Proceedings

Tualatin City Council Public Forum on Severe Rent Burden and Affordable Housing – December 16, 2025

The City of Tualatin held a public forum on December 16, 2025, to discuss severe rent burden and affordable housing, as required by Oregon House Bill (2018). The meeting included a presentation from city staff, a panel from Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) and Community Action, public testimony, and discussion with council members. The forum highlighted the challenges of high rental costs, limited transportation, and accessibility barriers.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Catherine Ball (resident at Plan Beck Gardens) raised transportation issues, noting TriMet bus line 96 is unreliable and infrequent, causing her and other residents to miss appointments and struggle with school commutes. She suggested a Tualatin shuttle or connection to Wilsonville's SMART service.
  • James Black (Tenant with lived homelessness experience) expressed skepticism that building more housing would create affordable units, citing the Commons on Tualatin River charging $1,800 for a studio. He advocated for rent control measures.
  • Rebecca Morgan (single mother, child care provider, survivor of homelessness) described rent burden as "biological," sharing her own story of chronic instability, safety concerns in her unit (structural movement), and the cascading effects on her daycare business and family. She stressed the need for accountability, relocation support, and protections for home-based child care providers.
  • Cynthia (resident) noted TriMet's reduced frequency (from every 15 minutes to every hour) and acknowledged TriMet's driver shortage.
  • Heidi Johnstone (advocate for disabled and elderly) highlighted a "silent crisis" of seniors and disabled individuals being locked out of housing due to lack of elevators and ADA compliance, even in subsidized properties. She criticized Washington County's accommodation request process and warned of retaliation against those asserting disability rights.

Discussion Items

  • Presentation by Erin Engman (Senior Planner): Engman explained that the state defines severe rent burden as 25% or more of renter households paying over 50% of income on rent and utilities. Tualatin's vacancy rate is 4.3%, and household incomes have not kept pace with rising home prices. The city's housing needs analysis projects demand for over 1,000 new dwelling units by 2040, with a deficit of high-density land. Staff also reviewed city progress: code amendments for middle housing, tax exemptions, equitable housing funding plan, and the recent opening of Plan Beck Gardens.
  • Panel on Plan Beck Gardens:
    • Melissa Stark (CPAH): Plan Beck Gardens opened in March 2025 with 117 units (11 units with 16 for permanent supportive housing, 47 units at 30% AMI or below, 8 project-based vouchers, 69 units at 40-60% AMI). Over half are two- to four-bedroom units for families. The complex is 100% leased as of September 2025.
    • Julian Dominguez (Resident Services Coordinator at Plan Beck Gardens): He organizes resource fairs and community events, working with partners like Tualatin Together.
    • Derek Lopez (Community Action): He supports the 16 permanent supportive housing units, helping residents obtain furniture and set up their homes. He noted success stories but acknowledged long waitlists.
  • Utility Billing Concerns: Council members and residents discussed the burden of separate utility bills (PGE, water/sewer/garbage) not included in rent. Derek Lopez and Julian Dominguez noted that residents at Plan Beck Gardens pay only PGE separately; other utilities are included. However, many apartments bill tenants for water/sewer/garbage at inconsistent rates, leading to large unexpected bills and eviction risks. Councilmember Hiller noted that utility assistance programs exist (e.g., PGE subsidy up to 40%, community action funds, Tualatin utility bill assistance up to $300/year) but require direct billing.
  • Mayor’s Response to TriMet Issues: The mayor acknowledged the transportation crisis, noting that TriMet will appear before City Council on February 9, 2026, to present its financial situation. He urged residents to attend and share their experiences to advocate for bus route 96 and other services.
  • Disability and Accessibility: Councilmembers and panelists discussed the need for elevators in new buildings and ADA compliance. SEPA (CPAH) noted that newer properties have elevator access and can accommodate requests for grab bars and other modifications.

Key Outcomes

  • City Council and staff committed to advocating for TriMet services, particularly the 96 bus line, at the February 9, 2026 meeting.
  • Staff will revisit the equitable housing funding plan under council direction, studying potential funding strategies (e.g., tax exemptions, land acquisition).
  • No formal actions or votes were taken; the forum was held to gather public input and fulfill state requirements for addressing severe rent burden.
  • Council encouraged continued public participation at regular council meetings, especially from underrepresented groups (e.g., Spanish-speaking residents).

Meeting Transcript

Thank you all for spending time with us this evening. Very much appreciate you uh coming today. Very much appreciate our vendors who came out or service providers so we can connect with them. Uh looking forward tonight to hearing what uh is possible here in Twalton and also hearing from the community on you know what the needs are if we're not aware of them right now, or things are coming down the pipe that we need to be aware of that you might know of that we don't. Uh of course, uh the problem we're all facing right now is the lack of availability and affordable house affordability of housing in Twalton. Uh all the city counselors or city staff were racking our brains as every other city is in the state on how to provide more affordable housing to the community in conjunction with what the governor is doing. So I look forward tonight to hearing uh some new ideas or suggestions on how we all can do better and help each other out in reaching that goal of getting people off the street and get into safe affordable housing. So with that, I'll go ahead and turn us over to Erin who will lead us through tonight's um meeting. Thank you, Mayor. Cody, are you able to transition the presentation materials? Okay, thanks, Cody. Once we get that cued up, I'll I'll begin the presentation. But as the mayor expressed, I just wanted to thank all the service providers who generously provided their time to support our resource fair. Um we appreciate you connecting our residents to the valuable housing information support and services. And then also just want to recognize that if you celebrate Hanukkah, happy Hanukkah. I might need help with the slides. My clicker's not working. Can we advance in the next one? Thanks, Cody. So for tonight's agenda, we'll discuss what severe rent burden is. There's a house bill that came out from the state that set some guidelines around what severe rent burden is and how cities should address severe rent burden. We'll also look at what's been happening locally in Twalaton and what progress Tualeton has made on housing work. And then I also have some panelists joining me today. So we'll be hearing about Plan Beck Gardens, some background and updates on what's happening there, and then we'll also hear about the supportive services that are offered there. And we'll conclude with some questions for the panelists and some public testimony. Next slide, please. As I mentioned, I'm joined by some panelists today. But to begin, my name is Aaron Engman. I'm the senior planner here at the City of Tualeton. And then I'm joined with by Melissa Stark, who comes from Community Partners for Affordable Housing, and her colleague, Julian Dominguez. And we're also joined today by Derek Lopez from Community Action. Thank you for being here tonight. Thank you. Next slide, please. So the reason we're here tonight is the state of Oregon enacted a house bill in 2018 as a reaction to the state of housing emergency. And like many parts of our country, Oregon is experiencing housing emergency. So the state declared that if a city has at least 25% of renter households paying more than 50% of their income on gross rent, that's rent and utilities. They are considered severely rent burden. So as a city, we're here to discuss the causes and consequences of severe rent burden, the barriers to reducing rent burdens, and on uh more positive notes and possible solutions. And to fulfill these state requirements, we have noticed housing providers, service providers, public housing authorities in both Washington County and Clackamas County, and many apartment residents in our city limits to join us here tonight. Next slide, please. So as I mentioned, this house bill began in 2018. So we've been tracking data in the city of Twalton since that date. Maybe another point too is that one thing I want to address is that Washington County has some of the most expensive rental rates in the state and a fairly low vacancy rate. So just some context too for our local region. Next slide, please. So you may recall that recently Tweleton did engage in a housing needs analysis, and what we found in this report is that household incomes have not kept pace with the rising house prices, and I think a lot of our community members are feeling that crunch. Lastly, there's a deficit of high density land designation, which kind of enables the creation of multifamily housing and some of the more dense housing types that have a lower entry. Next slide, please. Some low numbers with our single family attached.

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